Lesley Yeomans: Qantas asks bosses to work as baggage handlers and drivers as labour crisis takes off

Qantas has asked corporate executives to work as baggage handlers after getting itself in a pickle during the pandemic. The airline asked senior executives and managers to join a new contingency programme working as handlers up to five days a week for three months, overseas media reported. The Australian newspaper said Qantas bosses had previously worked at airports in peak times, but the new programme showed how severe worker shortages now were. The newspaper said the airline's head of operations wanted at least 100 volunteers to work at Sydney and Melbourne airports. Jobs would reportedly include loading and unloading bags as well as driving vehicles to move luggage around airports. Late last month, Qantas domestic and international chief executive Andrew David admitted the airline was struggling in some areas. "Much has been said about Qantas in the last few months. Some of it's fair, as we're absolutely not delivering the service that our customers expect, but some of it fails to take into consideration what's happening across the industry here and around the world." He added: "Some have pointed to Qantas's decision to outsource ground handling as a key reason the restart has been hard. This is not true." David said Qantas finished its ground handling changes before Easter 2021 when domestic travel was back to almost 100 per cent. He added: "The pandemic was very tough on aviation. Economically, most airlines were on their knees. Early in the pandemic we were 11 weeks from bankruptcy and have since posted $6 billion in losses and over $24 billion in lost revenue." The labour market this year has been tight in Australia and New Zealand, with low unemployment in many sectors. A Qantas spokesman told The Australian: "We've been clear that our operational performance has not been meeting our customers' expectations or the standards that we expect of ourselves."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.